Reply #1: If you're talking about a pricey antique

[Warpy]

then bite the bullet and send it to a furniture restorer.

If you're talking about Grandma's old maple veneer buffet, then you'll have a choice of chemical strippers to use. They all work pretty well, but you'll want to be very gentle scraping the softened old finish off--use a plastic scraper rather than a metal one. Follow the manufacturer's instructions about cleaning the surface, then give it a very light sanding before you stain (I'm assuming you don't want to paint it). You can finish it off with multiple coats of wax, but I prefer varnish, myself. It's not totally impervious to water damage, but it'll stop more than wax does.